Bellarine Community Health moves to the cloud

Victoria's Bellarine Community Health (BCH), the largest provider of health services for the Bellarine Peninsula in south-west Melbourne, has transitioned to a cloud platform based on Microsoft 365 and Azure to transform its systems for the digital era.

The non-profit organisation has been following a digital transformation blueprint it jointly developed with Utilise IT since August 2018.

BCH is using the Microsoft 365 suite productivity, communications and collaboration applications, and is using Azure Active Directory to manage access to its information systems.

The organisation is also using Azure for backup services and various line of business applications, and running Azure-based virtual machines for the delivery of various services.

The new platform also supports remote staff — such as palliative care nurses or those providing services under the National Disability Insurance Scheme — with secure mobility tools to use onsite.

BCH CEO Shane Dawson said the transition to the cloud has enabled the organisation to streamline primary health services delivery models, while complying with the security standards mandated by Vic Health.

“We’ve moved from an organisation from the 1980s into an organisation that’s well placed to do what we need to do for the next 10–15 years,” he said.

“The access to data and information at your fingertips is significant. I think the mobility it’s given people, like our occupational therapists out in the field, is significant. The reliability is another thing, no lost productivity. The other thing it’s done is cut my phone bill by $40,000 per annum.”

The increased flexibility the new platform gives to employees in terms of supporting telecommuting will also help BCH retain key staff, Dawson added.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/ronstik

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